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Arteta confirms Arsenal need a midfielder in January

Arteta all but confirms Arsenal will buy a new midfielder this month

There was a huge uproar among the Arsenal fans after Mikel Arteta’s press conference on Friday evening concluded.

When asked whether there would be arrivals in midfield in the winter transfer window, the Spaniard all but confirmed the club’s plans.

“We are going to move, and we are going to look for options because we are very short there,” said Arteta.

Arsenal does not just ‘want’ a midfielder, they ‘need’ it. With Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny out to participate in AFCON, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles having joined Roma, the Gunners are extremely short on numbers.

Apart from summer signing Albert Sambi Lokonga and former Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka, they have no senior figure to play in that position.

Charlie Patino is a name which has been talked about a lot, but with less than 20 minutes of action in men’s football, it will be a gamble to put him straight into the team.

Especially when the North London outfit are fighting for a Champions league berth and are also hoping to reach the finals of EFL Cup.

Several names have been thrown in the ring by media outlets with some high-profile ones being Lyon’s Bruno Guimaraes, PSG’s Georginio Wijnaldum, Juventus’ Athur Melo and Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz.

But none of them is exciting the Gunners faithful as much as Guimaraes. The Brazilian is valued at £38 million, which could prove to be a bargain in this day and age.

What happens in the next few weeks will certainly keep Arsenal fans on their toes. We also have the center forward position to look at.

Our interest in Dusan Vlahovic is very genuine and it won’t come as a surprise if the London side acquire the services of both Vlahovic and Guimaraes, come the end of the winter window.

That will certainly help Arsenal’s cause of qualifying for the Champions League next season. Maybe Arteta was right, his ‘Arsenal project’ indeed looks likely to go ‘bang.’

Yash Bisht

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26 Comments

  1. considering our present midfielder predicament, I’m not exactly sure why we didn’t address our lack of positional depth prior to loaning out AMN to Roma…putting the proverbial cart before the horse could be incredibly problematic, so I can only hope that something of consequence is already in the works…if not, this could provide any transfer partner with considerable leverage unnecessarily

      1. the only way I would have answered my own question is if I spoke directly to some reliably-sourced information regarding a particular player who’s signing appeared to be imminent…at the time of writing this above comment, no such information was available for public consumption, which is why I raised those obvious concerns

    2. I seems like the club is confident about their preferred reinforcement in midfield.
      We will see.

  2. If we were to pull off Vlahovic and Guimaraes signings I think we would be favourites to finish top 4 over spurs despite the Conte factor and maybe we could close the gap on Chelsea/Liverpool. On a side note watching the Swindon vs Man City Cup tie I was very impressed with the Swindon right back, thought he defended well and showed great composure on the ball against city’s high press, so he would be able to fit into our play out the back system. Maybe someone to look at bring in to be backup to tomiyasu and I imagine wouldn’t cost a lot.

    1. the only noteworthy non-regular starter was Palmer…now there’s a special left foot

      1. Yes Palmer was very good. but I reaffirm that i thought Kessler Hayden was impressive too at right back for Swindon minus him over doing unnecessary trickery on some occasions. So I thought he might be someone to look at for backup option and Sky Sports News have just reported Athletico Madrid are interested in Cedric Soares.

    2. Zakaria was left out when Gladach beat Bayern Munich today. He could slot in next to Xhaka.

      Problem solved.

  3. I’d like to see Chambers or White tried at DM on Sunday as one of them might be needed there in the PL until Partey and Elneny return. We are one injury or suspension away from a very worrisome situation.

  5. Vlahovic and Guimaraes would be dream signings. However, if they dont sign Arsenal must have options lined up.

  6. I would like to see Arthur Melo as our new signing cos of he’s versatile, a good destroyer and a good ball distributor

  7. Vlahovic, Guimaries and Wijnaldum (on loan) would mean an absolutely perfect window. The summer was close to perfect apart from the lateness of arrivals and the lack of a striker. The recruitment team have finally got their heads screwed on at last by the looks.

    Forget spurs and Utd, those 2 teams have proved its nothing to do with the manager it’s the players. How can you have 3 different “top” managers, with the same squad and achieve the same outcome every time. It starts with a mini revival followed by the same mediocrity. Both their squads are disjointed and un balanced and need a complete overhaul. Plus players who are controversial and too forthcoming with their opinions publicly (*coughRonaldo).

    Arteta is more astute than the AFTV and the anti Arteta fans on here and other sites give him credit for. He took over a squad that failed both Wenger (2 seasons), Emery (1.5 seasons) and Arteta the 3rd man (1.5 seasons). He came in and had more or less the same squad or at least the same dysfunctional parts that failed the previous 2 managers.

    5 years of mediocrity and 3 different managers and we were getting the same results. Some Arsenal fans still thought the squad Arteta had when he joined was good enough to challenge for titles and get top 4. Laying the blame at Arteta’s feet because he wasn’t Antonio Conte, Ancilotti or Maureen.

    Arteta is being proved right now far too many times to say he’s a bad manager. Yes hes made and will make mistakes because he’s human and is at the start of his journey. But give him the support and patience you showed Saka, ESR and Martinelli who are at the start of their journeys.

    His removal of the players who failed us or who were disruptive in camp was 💯 correct. Got rid of or sidelined Kolasinac, Sokratis, Bellerin, Mustafi, Ozil, Mikhitarian, Torriera, Guendouzi and soon Aubamyang, he’s been proven right.

    This young squad as Arteta put it is ready to go bang. We saw it against City, how many teams have that many chances and restrict the £2.5 billion team to 1 open play shot at goal with 10 men. We’ve seen what their capable of now and we should expect but have patience in our young squad, it’s coming

    2. I don’t think the squad Mr. Wenger left failed Arteter.
      Rather that inferior squad you are insinuating gave Arteter the FA Cup and the Community Shield.
      Unless you want to dispute they are not wealthy to be won.

    3. JAMES I much praise the perceptive and sensibly put comments throughout you post. I have, broadly speaking, been a supporter of the MA period, though I harboured doubts and said so.

      I, like you, accept that he has made many mistakes. BUT I also clearly see the marked progress that some on here do NOT, it seems to me, even WISH to see!

      I firmly believe such folk are soon going to look very foolish indeed and as I do not wish that fate to befall certain dedicated Gooners, which many of the MA non accepters certainly ARE, I urge them to see the clear and marked improvement this season from last season and to join the optimists who have much realism about us.

      I believe that we are the most likely of all the contenders, under the top three, to MAKE fourth place. I also believe , given the players that are leaving on loan , that MA is far too shrewd not to bring in good replacements this month. I look forward to the foreseeable future with positivity and rejoice that you do too!

      EACH WEEK, MORE AND MORE FORMER DOUBTERS AND “FORMER MA OUT” FANS ARE BEING CONVINCED WE ARE GOING PLACES.

  8. In a extraordinary year of covid restrictions an disruption. Would we have won the fa Cup in a normal season if teams were able too continue form???? Our league form was awful before and after lockdown and we won a cup which was a bonus.

    The 8th place finish that season which everyone likes to place at the feet of Arteta. Even though he managed 10 league games of that season, is a prime example of Arsenal fans bias against the man

    1. How about 8th last year, not his fault? How about getting swept by Emery in Europa, and his ridiculous false 9 with ESR, not Arteta’s fault?

      Everything is not Arteta’s fault, but to excuse him for results is nonsense. “Bias” as you put it.

      Credit where it’s due for Arteta, this year we are improved and his transfers are dynamite. But criticism also where it’s due, last year his decision making and negative football was dreadful.

      1. And apart form the last 4 weeks everything beforehand was practically the same as last season .
        I would suggest curbing that enthusiasm until this seasons finished as we have been here before with him .

        1. And 4 weeks are you serious this time last year we were 10th the season before 15th this season 4th thats not happened over 4 weeks fella

      2. I agree Dan all will be judged on final standings at the end of the season and if we decide we have improved. but if fans all thinking 4th should be guaranteed your seriously missinformed and unrealistic.

      3. Agreed he’s made mistakes and experimented and im not defending him but can you blame him. The first 11 is more or less completely different especially when you consider Gabriel, Partey and Martinelli were injured more or less all season. We’ve finally dropped Auba from the squad and as captain.

        People have to remember he’s not a manger with 10 years management behind him he only had 3 years coaching before us. Compare him with Ole who do you think is the better manager based on money spent squad quality.

        He deserves praise for the good he has done at the club but everyone hides under there rocks. Until he makes a mistake or we lose and then all the trolls appear and want him out

        1. Good points James.
          The anti-Arteta brigade will however always find fault with him.
          There is a question I also have: What really is the evidence that a manager with more experience would have got more out of the squad than Arteta has? It may be interesting to debate this as it often implied that a more experienced manager would have got more out of the same squad. I would suggest that there are probably no more than a handful of managers in the world where a truly strong case can be made.

  9. Would love for us just to go all out and get Declan Rice and Vlahovic in January. 180m should get both and we can cement the top 4 this season and chase the title next.

    1. Rice would be he’ll of a coup but might be too rich considering we need to spend 50-70m on a striker

  10. I love both Declan Rice and Philips, those guys are good with wealth of premier league experience. But they are English players and will be way over the nose expensive.

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